Divine Retribution
by RayneXHatake
Summary: Halloween fic. Nagato should have never brought them back to life. The gods didn't like having things taken out of their hands and tended to get ticked off when something like souls were taken from them. Naruto/Hinata
1. Chapter 1

Yes, I've done it again. I've fallen victim to another plot bunny. This idea has been swimming around in my head since Nagato brought everyone back to life. My thought process while writing this was pretty clear and it all revolved around reincarnation. If the souls of the dead are used for new babies, then there has to be death. With Nagato bringing back all of his victims, then that's a number of babies that were denied a soul. Take this story as a grain of salt, I'm no an expert in reincarnation but I did research it and got the gist of it.

So now I've got my first Halloween story, onward with the cliche! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: After writing this story, let's just say we're all glad I don't own Naruto. **

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Gaara wasn't easily shaken.

He didn't really have a specific fear, or at least nothing he would consider a normal fear. In the deep recesses of his mind he dreaded remembering his youth, but that wasn't exactly a fear. It was an unwanted memory of his blood-filled and horror ridden past. That was something he had already come to terms with and it didn't bother him anymore. The renewed man regretted his past, but understood why he was at one time a cold-hearted killer. Now he was a better person because of his experiences.

Still, even as a child Gaara couldn't remember ever fearing the boogey man. Nor can he remember being terrified of the darkness.

His siblings had strange fears. To this day Temari refuses to be in the same room with mimes while Kankuro can't stand small spaces. Yet, Gaara didn't fear the same things. Of course, Gaara wasn't exactly brought up to act like a child. Raised instead to be a weapon and weapons couldn't be afraid.

Gaara mentally shook away his thoughts of his childhood and put his kage persona back on. He couldn't let anyone see how much the scene before him bothered him. He couldn't let his shinobi see the panic in his heart or hear how rapidly his blood was pulsing in his ear. Gaara always made sure to be the calm kage. So much so his shinobi dubbed him the 'Rock of Suna.' Always steady, always tough against the elements and never showing his innermost fears. Not much could raise the hairs on the back of his neck. He couldn't even remember a time when fear crawled up his spine or when his knees shook in the face of fear.

Well, that all was true before he entered a completely deserted Konoha. His mind almost couldn't comprehend what lay before him. Originally Gaara expected there to still be some damage to the village. Pein's attack from four months ago was still fresh in the Kazekage's mind, but he didn't expect to find the village half-built and deserted.

"Kazekage-sama, we can't feel any chakras. Our scouting team fears the worst because they can't find anything. Neither survivors or bodies."

Gaara dismissed the shinobi and stared up at the tall gates, the same ones he and his siblings walked through years before to take the Chunin Exam. He always thought they were beautiful, but now with both doors carelessly flung open they seemed more like the gates to the afterlife. The thought sent foreign shivers up his spine.

Something about the state of the village didn't set right with him. Not only were the entrance gates open, but every house and store dotting the lane in front of him also had their own doors flung open. Whatever happened in Konoha was big and scary enough for her residents to leave without much thought about how they left their homes. It was a realization that hit Gaara deep enough to call his shinobi back to his side. He didn't know what they were up against and would be damned before he put their lives at even more risk.

"Let's head towards the Hokage Tower, maybe we can find some answers there."

As the Suna group with three teams of four plus Gaara walked down the middle of the eerie lane leading to the Hokage Tower, they couldn't help but feel the change in the atmosphere. Where once there were happy vendors selling their best produce, now was nothing more than graveyard of overturned carts and rotting food. Where people used to congregate along the side of the lane, now was deserted. Something about the air itself was 'off' too. The trees and flowers Konoha was famous for couldn't cover up the overwhelming stench of old blood and rotting flesh.

As the group climbed the steps to the seemingly deserted Hokage Tower, Gaara immediately noticed something else lingering in the air. It was a smell he would never forget. The same smell that assaulted his childhood memories. It was a dark, sinister and ancient smell, one that would haunt Gaara and his shinobi for the rest of their lives.

They smelled pure evil.

It was something so dark and powerful the oxygen was stolen from their lungs. For the first time in his life Gaara felt the urgent need to retreat, but he couldn't. Even though all of the fibers in his body screamed to stop and run the other way, he had to settle his curiosity. He would never forgive himself if he backed out, especially if someone was in need.

Exactly five weeks ago Suna received an urgent emergency call from Konoha. The garbled message written by a sweaty, hurried hand succinctly pleaded 'we need help now.' Unfortunately Gaara was waist deep in council meetings and didn't get the message until a few days after its arrival.

Then another message was discovered by his shinobi. This one was even more concerning. Whoever sent it was only able to write a few words on it before the ink brush was either snatched away or something more sinister interrupted its completion.

Gaara readied his three squads and prepared to leave for Konoha, but a freak sandstorm delayed their departure. It wasn't until a full month had passed before they could attempt the two-day journey to Konoha.

The Suna group now found themselves standing in what used to be the crowded mission room. Just a few short months ago this same room was brimming with shinobi receiving their missions and returning their mission reports; some gossiping and relaxing after hard training sessions and harder missions. Now, it was strangely deserted. The hairs on the back of Gaara's neck finally made themselves known as he walked over to the large door separating the mission room from the Hokage's Office.

While Gaara was slowly opening the door to Tsunade's office, one of his female shinobi let out an ear ringing screech. The kage was across the room in less than a second to grasp the arm of the brown haired kunoichi, pulling her away from whatever horror she was witnessing. Once Gaara released her arm, the kunoichi buried her face into the chest of the nearest shinobi and shook violently against her impromptu comforter.

Gaara stared at the solitary object on the floor behind the mission's desk with morbid fascination. A grayed, severed arm lay on the floor, clutching tightly to an ink brush. The arm was disconnected at the elbow, with ripped, pink tissue wrapping around an equally pink and blood encrusted bone. It looked like someone had literally ripped the poor shinobi's arm off as he was writing.

Gaara reached down and picked up the arm for closer inspection. The scent of decaying flesh wafted strongly into the air as he held the arm up. One of his shinobi violently vomited behind him at the stench.

As Gaara looked at the bone, he could swear some of the markings along the bone and the tissues resembled teeth marks. Slowly, the red headed kage placed the arm back on the ground and said a silent prayer for the unlucky soul that lost it.

Gaara turned to look at his shinobi and saw the fear in their eyes, but he also saw loyalty. They would go wherever he ordered them to go. The only problem was the kage wasn't certain if he even wanted to know what was behind Tsunade's door anymore. Deciding he'd rather know and die than spend the rest of his life wondering, Gaara briskly walked over to the large door and slammed it open. The hinges squealed in protest and the heavy door banged against the wall before everything fell silent.

The room before him was empty, except for a lone leather bound book abandoned atop Tsunade's desk. Gaara strode forward, his heavy steps echoing loudly and picked up the book. It reeked of old ramen, sweat and rot. Flipping open to the first page he saw the words 'Future Hokage Uzumaki Naruto' messily scrawled across in a childish cursive. The red haired kage chuckled to himself as he flipped through the beginning pages with mild amusement. The book was littered with capitalized letters and exclamations points, proving that Naruto was every bit as loud in writing as he was in person.

Gaara's chuckling startled his shinobi as he flipped to the end of the journal and began reading the last entry. Perhaps Naruto's journal could shed some light over the whole situation. The kage just hoped his friend hadn't dedicated the last page to ramen or something similar.

_It's quiet now._

_The howls and screams have stopped, but deep down inside I wonder if that's a good thing. If you can't hear something then obviously it's not there right? Shikamaru says I'm stupid for believing that and maybe he's right. He says they're still out there, watching and waiting for us. I can sometimes feel them watching me and hear them whispering from the shadows. They hunger for us. They're waiting for just one of us to slip up so they can gain their prize._

_Even now as I stand behind this desk with the window open, I can feel their eyes on me. Already devouring me with their glassy pupils and drooling as they think of the feast they'll have if they catch us._

_This will most likely be my last entry because I can feel in my bones that the next attack will be the last. Our barricades are only going to hold for so long and when they break through it will mean the end of Konoha._

Gaara's eyes widened as he stepped around Tsunade's desk and waved his shinobi into the office. The kage turned back to the suddenly serious side of Naruto that he had never seen before and continued reading.

_This journal is my life's story. Iruka-sensei gave it to me as a birthday present when I was first learning to write. It was the first gift I had ever gotten from someone other than the old man, so I tried to cherish it over the years. I've got enough blackmail worthy material in here to last me an entire lifeline. Funny, now that I think of it, all of that information is going to go to waste because my lifeline is growing shorter by the minute._

_Originally I wrote in this journal for selfish reasons. I hoped that someday someone would look at my journal and realize how awesome their Hokage was as a kid, but now it's the only account of our final days. The gods wanted a story told, a lesson learned and I'll be damned before I mess up my last mission. Especially one appointed by the gods themselves._

_To whoever is reading this, whether it is Gaara or some lucky soul that escaped the onslaught, I ask for you to read our story and learn the lesson here. I wrote in the hopes that someone would see how Konoha's last reserve, the last nine warriors of the Leaf, fought back and survived. How we defended the last safe point of our home from friends, family and comrades. I wrote so our voices wouldn't be silenced by death and destruction. So every shinobi nation will know what happened to Konohagakure and heed the warnings we leave behind. I wrote because of my duty to the people and because of my duty to Konoha. I wrote because this is the only legacy we leave behind._

_Remember us friends from other villages. Remember our plight and remember our horror. Remember our living nightmare. Man should have never play god because they get pissed whenever things are removed from their control._

_Remember us and spread our tale. We are the remaining shinobi of Konohagakure, proud and united, but fighting a losing battle._

_-Uzumaki Naruto (Unofficial Rokudaime Hokage)_

Gaara looked up from the last page of the journal with sadness showing freely within his eyes. It startled the shinobi closest to him. Never before had his kage displayed such raw emotion. It scared the shinobi and made him wonder just exactly what happened to their ally.

The red headed man's hands shook slightly as deep curiosity and dread bubbled heavily inside his chest. As morbid as the situation was, Gaara couldn't help but wonder what happened to the remaining nine and the thousands of other residents of Konoha.

How could a village with such a large population turn into a literal ghost town?

Quickly Gaara flipped the pages of the journal until he found an entry dated just a month before the final entry. This was the beginning of their ordeal. Gaara smiled because Naruto even marked the page with huge letters proclaiming it was 'the beginning.' The kage smiled even wider as he realized someone else had gone back behind Naruto and crossed out the bold letters only to write a more detailed title of 'The day everything became fucked up.'

_Nagato should have never brought them back. Yeah, we appreciated the sentiment, but those that came back weren't the same. There was something 'off' about them. The changes were gradual at first, small insignificant behaviors that didn't cause much alarm. It wasn't until things started getting serious that anybody realized something was wrong._

Gaara pulled away one last time from the pages of the journal to order his shinobi to scout out what was remaining of the village and to be on high alert.

As his shinobi left the room, Gaara flipped a page of the journal and was pulled right back into the childish, yet mature words of Uzumaki Naruto.

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So how'd ya like it? It gets even more interesting as the story progresses and we get into the actual 'what happened' to Konoha.

Happy Halloween!

Until next time,

'Rayne


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks everyone for the lovely reviews and alerts. I'll admit that this is going to be dark and will get a little graphic, so if you're squeamish, this isn't the story for you. Time just wasn't on my side this Halloween, so now this is turned into a 'horror story just for the heck of it' kind of story. I know the chapters are rather short, but that's mostly because it's not a long story.

Okay, the italics are Naruto's journal and the regular writing is like what's happening in that scene. Naruto's journal helps set the standard for what's happening in the actual scene. it all comes together at the end, I promise. ;P

'Rayne

_

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The ones that were revived just weren't right, if that makes any sense. _

_During the beginning I can only remember chaos and death. Days ran together to become one long nightmare that I couldn't wake up from. _

_The first few days were the hardest and bloodiest because we didn't know what was going on. We made careless mistakes that cost us lives. We were so very lost and confused. We didn't understand why our loved ones were attacking us so brutally. All we knew was that we were glued to our fates and nothing we said or did could change that. _

_When Kiba was still alive, the two of us got separated from the main group. Unfortunately, we were found by some of the infected. As we sat huddled together trying to block out the sounds of his elderly cousin trying to claw her way into the closet we were seeking sanctuary in, he turned to me and laughed. I'll never forget the look in his eyes, the acceptance, as he said they reminded him of a dog right before the poor creature succumbed to rabies._

_I can still see that acceptance twist into disgust as he gently fingered the lock of Akamaru's white fur that was tied around his neck. He said we were sitting there as the disbelieving masters, seeing, but not believing. At the time, I called him an idiot and yelled at him for trying to scare me. Looking back now, I can see it too. The furious disease festering just below the surface of their skin and us, the brilliant shinobi, ignorantly ignoring the changes because they were alive and we didn't want anything to be wrong with them. We just wanted them to live. _

_Maybe that was our second mistake._

* * *

"Haruno-san! Here's another one! He's just as bad as the last one."

Haruno Sakura, sixteen-year-old medic-nin of Konoha, quickly rushed over to the screaming man being dragged into the makeshift field hospital by two chunin. Konoha's official hospital was already overflowing with patients and the medics were forced into setting up field hospitals in the middle of some of the larger jounin training grounds. It wasn't the best environment, or the most sterile, but with so many sick and injured shinobi and civilians, they had no choice but to work with what they had.

"Place him on the last cot. I'll be there shortly to take his vitals."

"Hai!"

Sakura ran a hand through her short pink locks and waited until her newest patient was settled onto his cot before taking the depressing walk down the middle of the training grounds. The pink haired girl couldn't wrap her mind around the scene around her. Pein was defeated and Konoha was at peace, so why were so many of her comrades and fellow citizens falling victim to such a horrible illness?

The chunin shook her head to clear her thoughts as she quickly ran through taking the poor shinobi's vital signs. A part of the girl wondered why she wasted the effort. The man lying on the cot before her was obviously suffering from the same thing over half of Konoha was, which meant his vital signs hadn't changed. The same mysterious disease that was ravaging through the village and infecting hundreds of citizens, there wasn't even enough hospital space to accommodate the ailing patients. Three separate field hospitals had to be set up across Konoha to house everyone. Even then the tents only housed up to fifty patients comfortably, which wasn't enough for the sheer number of people being dragged into them.

"Sakura-san?"

Sakura looked up from the man in front of her and grimaced at the other two being dragged into the makeshift ward.

"I only have one cot left."

The kunoichi dragging in her lover looked devastated. "Please Sakura-san you have to do something for him. Aren't you the Godaime's apprentice?"

Sakura sighed and looked over her other patients, most were sedated, but a lot were simply writhing in pain on their beds. "Okay, grab a few blankets and make him a pallet on the ground. It's the best I can do for now."

"Hai!"

The pink haired girl watched quietly as the other kunoichi dragged her lover to a free spot. Sakura was at the end of her rope. She was supposed to be an amazing medic-nin, but she couldn't find a single cause for the disease nor could she find a cure. She didn't even have help. Currently she was also the only apprentice able to work. Shizune succumbed to the mysterious illness during the first few days, not even a week after Naruto defeated Pein.

The entire village was so happy and reconstruction was just underway when their happy ending crashed down around their still ringing ears. Tsunade-sama was still unconscious, but the village was recovering. Everything was looking up, until the first reports started coming in about a mysterious illness.

It all started a few days after Nagato died.

The ones revived started developing strange and unusual symptoms. The first symptom was the terrifying discovery that they couldn't feel pain. Sakura's own sensei, Hatake Kakashi, walked all the way to Kusa and back on a broken foot. He didn't even know his foot was broken until shards of the fragmented bone broke through the skin of said appendage. Even then, only the smell of his blood alerted him to his problem. With such a startling realization, Shizune and Sakura immediately ordered physicals for all citizens of Konoha. It took a while, but the results were staggering.

There was a definite difference in the health of those that Nagato revived and those that weren't killed during Pein's attack. In fact, most of the ones that Nagato brought back had the vital signs of a corpse. Severely low internal body temperatures, erratic and slow pulse rates, bottomed out blood pressures, and weak respiratory rates, all things that shouldn't have been plausible when the person was walking around with a beating heart. Shizune and Sakura were stumped completely. All the signs pointed back to the fact that their shinobi should still be dead, but they were obviously not.

The strange vital signs worried the two medics, but the next symptom would send chills down their spines. The digestive systems of the revived suddenly started rejecting food. No matter how the food was placed in the body, via ingestion or injection, the body rejected it. At this point Shizune could no longer help Sakura formulate a cure, she herself was falling victim to the mysterious illness.

For an entire two days the village of Konoha prayed for some type of cure. Without proper nutrition, the ill were just going to waste away, so Sakura ordered mandatory feedings. Even if their stomachs rejected the food there was always the possibility that some of the nutrients would be absorbed into the body.

That's when the screaming started.

A series of forced feedings brought upon a horrible, burning rash. Unfortunately, it turned out that the victims could feel the rash and the pain that followed it. Many described the pain as a hundred burning needles being pushed underneath their fingernails. Quickly, their entire bodies broke out in this rash and, with further investigation, it turned out that the rash extended to the internal organs as well.

At that point, Sakura was at a crossroads with no idea which direction to turn. All she could do was watch her patients starve and scream in pain. They were weakening with every passing second and becoming more violent. The pain and hunger ruined their minds and wills. She found herself having to tie down some of the more aggressive cases, the same people she called comrades and loved ones.

"Haruno-san! Come quick!"

Sakura immediately broke away from her thoughts just in time to see one of her jounin patients thrash violently on his cot. Soon the trashing spread from one victim to the other. Sakura found herself holding tight to the kunoichi on the bed in front of her in hopes that their seizures would stop. Then, just as quickly as the thrashing started, it stopped again.

A single jounin raised his body slightly before looking around the room. He was one of the more aggressive cases, so his hands were tied to the bed with a length of rope. Sakura watched in morbid fascination as he stared straight at her, almost like he was seeing into her soul.

It sent a chill down her spine.

Slowly, he turned himself over as best as he could before lowering his mouth to his arm and biting hard enough to draw blood. Sakura's eyes widened as she raced over to sedate him, but once she was close enough he shoved his body into her causing her to collapse to the ground in a heap.

By the time Sakura finally got to her feet, the man before her had chewed through his own arm in order to get out of his restraint. Bloody lips curled into a smile as the jounin licked his teeth clean before reaching down to taste the skin hanging from his severed arm. He watched Sakura the entire time he slurped up his own blood and dined on his flesh as if it were a steak dinner.

Sakura barely managed to swallow down the bile in her throat as she quickly brought her hands together to form hand seals for any technique that would stop the crazed man. She understood he was hungry, but cannibalism wasn't the answer. She discovered rather quickly, though, that none of her chakra was coming to her. She couldn't even feel the comforting warmth of her chakra rushing throughout her body. Fear and dread replaced the previous feeling of disgust as she noticed she wasn't the only one that was having chakra problems.

Her assistants and fellow medic-nins couldn't call upon their chakra either. It was almost like the entire tent was covered by a chakra suppressor. She clapped her hands together one last time as sweat and fear poured from her body in an effort to mold her chakra into a punishing blow. Once again, nothing came. Sakura's head suddenly snapped up as the ground rumbled and furious shouts could be heard from the village gates. A single loud bang filled the clearing followed closely by a series of pitiful and gut retching screams.

The sick had gone strangely quiet, staring towards the heavens with dazed looks in their eyes.

No one moved. No one made a sound. It was unnerving.

Sakura tried a final time to call upon her chakra, but alas, she failed once more.

The jounin with the missing hand grinned evilly and growled as he walked towards Sakura. The pink haired girl backed up until she felt the back of her knees hit the bed behind her. Knowing she wasn't a weak little girl anymore and could gladly take care of his monster before her without chakra, she reared her fist back to throw a powerful punch. Just as her fist became level with her head, Sakura froze.

Across the tent, where the kunoichi had laid her lover on a pallet of blankets, was the sickening sight of the male shinobi feeding heartily from the torn open body cavity of his girlfriend. Dead eyes met Sakura's horrified green ones as he chewed on the end of an intestine before smiling. A cold hand gripped her wrist and bit down hard into the muscle of her shoulder before Sakura could react.

Sakura's screams echoed throughout the training ground as more of the sick advanced on her and the other medics and feasted on the only thing that didn't cause their bodies' pain, human flesh and blood.

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Eww anybody? I killed Sakura! I feel bad now. Anyway, next chapter will reveal a little more as far as what's happening. I hope this painted a good picture as to where this story is going. Not exactly zombie, but close enough. ^_^

Until next time,

'Rayne


	3. Chapter 3

Welcome back to the story. Sorry it's been so long, but I got really busy this past month. Finals and whatnot, but I'm very excited to get back to writing this story. It's near and dear to my heart. Growing up on horror movies has practically molded my impressionable young mind in a way where writing stuff like this is fun. ;P

Happy Readings!

**Disclaimer: Nope, I've still got work at 7:30 in the morning. If I owned Naruto then I wouldn't get up until noon.**

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_From the timeline Shikamaru plotted out during one of our many sleepless nights, Sakura's death was possibly one of the first, if not the first. In an ironic kind of way it fits. She was the one that suffered and bled trying to find a cure for this damn illness and in a morbid way she did. Her flesh and blood were more potent that any drug or jutsu she could have used. _

_I miss her so much._

_I can't help but feel guilty about her death. I wasn't there to save her. I was too busy slurping down ramen while my friend was being eaten by her patients. I practically broke the only established rule of Team Kakashi, 'never leave your comrades behind'. Yeah, I didn't desert her in battle, but I didn't help her in her time of need either. 'Cause when it all boils down to it, I wasn't there to protect my teammate. I failed her. _

_Kakashi-sensei would be so disappointed. `_

_I wanted to write an entire page on how much I do miss her, ya know to ease my guilt, but Shikamaru refuses to let me. He says that he understands my pain of losing my last teammate, but that this wasn't the time for mourning. Apparently my rambling would do nothing but waste paper. It hurts to not be able to mourn for her and the others. We've lost so many. Perhaps if we survive this my first official act as Hokage will be to raise a monument to those lost. _

_Sai said it was a fool's dream. He doubts we'll ever survive this, fucking bastard, he doesn't know anything. We'll survive this or my name isn't Uzumaki Naruto! _

_Maybe I am kidding myself, but I'd rather have something to believe in than nothing at all. At least I can still dream. At least I still have my determination. Fuck, I don't even have Kyuubi anymore, but I've still got my will. Nothing is going to keep me from saving my village, well, what's left of it._

* * *

The rumbling vibrations of the heavy village gates slamming tight knocked Naruto's ramen noodles around in his broth. A few even managed to spill over the side of the bowl and splatter against the wooden countertop.

In front of Naruto, Ayame gripped the counter so hard her knuckles turned white as she tried to steady herself. There was worry written across her pretty face as she looked towards the village gates. The last time she experienced something like that was the day Oto attacked during the Chunin Exams. Ayame hoped with all of her heart that nothing similar was going on.

She turned her wide brown eyes onto Naruto and watched him curiously. Her fears instantly dissipated as he smiled at her. The young woman sighed before closing her eyes and clearing her head, Naruto was a shinobi and if he wasn't worried then she shouldn't be either.

"Hey Ayame-chan? Do you think we should be worried about that rumble?"

Then again, maybe it would be better to ask a more experienced shinobi. Ayame looked around before her eyes landed on the ponytailed academy sensei better known as Umino Iruka.

A small blush settled over the brown haired man's nose as he noticed her staring intently at him, the blush escalated after he noticed she was waving him over. "Yes Ayame-san?"

"Umino-san, did you feel that vibration a few minutes ago? Is something wrong?"

Iruka quickly glanced over the civilian girl before giving her the same comforting smile he used on his students. The teacher honestly had no idea what was going on, but he couldn't let the woman in front of him know that. "There's nothing to worry about Ayame-san, but just to be safe, why don't you close up the shop and get home."

Ayame nodded her head quickly as she turned back to Naruto. "Naruto-kun, I've got to close early. Is there anything else you need?"

Naruto belched loudly before patting his distended stomach. "Nah, it was great Ayame-chan!"

"Naruto! You have better manners than that!"

Naruto looked back and gave Iruka a foxy grin. "Oi! Iruka-sensei, I didn't see you back there. Do you know what's going on?"

Iruka rolled his eyes at the insufferable, yet lovable, blond perched upon the wooden stool. "I don't. How about we go see?"

Naruto jumped down from his stool as he chirped a quick 'okay' to the older man. Iruka shook his head as he followed after the blond haired shinobi. As much as Iruka saw the blond as the little boy he used to be, there was no denying Naruto's growth. He was nearly as tall as Iruka and easily outweighed Iruka in muscle mass. The little stray had grown into a fine shinobi, despite everything thrown his way.

"Ne Sensei?"

"Yes Naruto?"

"Do you smell that?"

Iruka blinked in surprise before slightly lifting his nose into the air and taking a sniff of the air around him. The scent was different, but he couldn't place how. It smelled thicker and laden with iron. "What is that?"

Naruto's nose twitched a few times before his entire frame shivered. "It smells like _blood_ Sensei."

The bushes along the road rustled slightly. Iruka found himself throwing his body in front of Naruto, even though he was sure the blond could protect them better. It just felt natural to want to protect him. Iruka watched quietly as the bushes began to thrash violently before stilling.

The chunin could feel Naruto's breath brush along the back of his neck. His mind honed onto the fact that it smelled like ramen. "Sensei?"

"Shush Naruto. Something's over there."

Naruto chuckled as he sauntered around Iruka and threw his teacher a cocky grin. "I've got this Sensei!" He clapped his hands together and quickly formed the hand seal for his clones.

Iruka watched as seconds became minutes before realizing that nothing was happening. Naruto looked back in confusion before centering his center of gravity and squatting low to the ground. His entire face was scrunched up in concentration as he tried to bring up just a sliver of chakra. Once more he discovered nothing there. No matter how deep he dug, nothing came up.

Frantic blue eyes full of questions looked up at Iruka. "Sensei? Is there something wrong with me?"

Iruka shook his head as his eyes never strayed far from the still moving bush. "Get back Naruto. Don't you dare leave my side 'til we know what's wrong with your chakra network. We'll get Neji or Hinata to look at it later."

Naruto looked like he was going to protest for just a few minutes before dejectedly walking behind Iruka. The chunin took a deep breath before walking forward and bringing his own hands up to perform his own technique. Once again a Konoha shinobi found themselves without the ability to mold chakra. Iruka took a deep breath before trying again, only to come up empty.

"Dang. Something's not right Naruto."

"What about the bush?"

The brown haired man plucked a kunai from his weapon's pouch and hastily tossed it into the quivering bush. A small, brown rabbit jumped from the bush and hopped into the middle of the deserted street. The two men's laughter sounded eerie in the thick atmosphere as they laughed at their own unease. That laughter soon turned to deadly silence as the rabbit suddenly keeled over and went deathly still.

Iruka gasped quietly as Naruto's mouth clamped shut. He looked questioningly over to his onetime teacher and tried to hide the worry in his eyes. Once more Iruka put on his 'Sensei smile' and gently grasped the younger man's shoulder. "I'm sure it was just sick. All things have a time to die and no one can change that. When your time's up, your time's up."

Naruto almost wanted to protest and blurt out that Nagato was able to bring people back to life, but it suddenly didn't seem appropriate. Which shocked the hell out of Naruto because he never before cared if something was appropriate or not. Inwardly the blond chuckled at himself; perhaps he was finally growing up.

As Iruka and Naruto continued towards the village gates, they missed one important detail about the rabbit lying in the middle of the road. Blood was slowly pooling underneath the carcass. One long angry stripe ran down the length of the creature's side and if they would have really looked, they would have seen fingernails stuck into the muscle of the rabbit's back leg.

* * *

Kakashi was not a happy shinobi.

In fact, he'd say he was downright pissed off at this point. A part of him wondered if being brought back to life was worth the suffering he'd had to endure the past few weeks. Okay, he'd admit that the ability to not feel pain had been an awesome symptom, but having to deal with the allergic reactions to food wasn't something he enjoyed. Somehow the last Hatake managed to suffer through several self enforced feedings and dealt with the agonizing pain left behind from the reactions to food, all in hopes that he wouldn't have to go to the hospital. So far he'd managed to accomplish that goal.

On top of his erratic and irritating symptoms, Kakashi couldn't shake the feeling of unease coursing through his veins. Exactly three hours ago his entire ninken pack disappeared without saying a word. Pakkun looked absolutely tortured as he evaporated in smoke. Kakashi could even swear he saw the ninken's eyes water as he stared up at Kakashi for a few seconds before he disappeared. With the ninken gone, Kakashi also started noticing a few changes about his apartment.

He couldn't feel his wards anymore. He knew they were there, but there wasn't that steady pulse of chakra coming from his walls. Everything felt cold, quiet, and just plain off. It irritated him to feel so unbalanced and off his game.

Finally getting tired of just sitting there staring at his wall, Kakashi quickly opened his window and placed one foot against the wall. Instead of it sticking like it usually would, the silver haired man found himself having to scrambled to grasp the windowsill as his feet slipped down the wall. A few minutes later, Kakashi found himself ignoring his gut piercing pain as he walked towards the Hokage Tower. It really wasn't that hard for him to do, he was used to numbing his emotions.

It took him longer than normal to get to the Hokage Tower, mostly because he had to walk, but also because of how distracted the silver haired ninja felt. The air smelled different to the man, so much sweeter than it did a few minutes before. Shaking the silly thoughts from his mind, Kakashi reached the Hokage Tower and took the stairs two at a time. Each bounce felt like thousands of tiny little glass shards were piercing his stomach, but he ignored the feeling in favor of finding out what was wrong with his chakra.

Usually Kakashi would go straight to Shizune's office, but he knew the black haired woman would most likely be with Tsunade. She was trying everything in her power to wake the woman up in hopes that she, the best medic Konoha had, could save Konoha from whatever horrible illness had settled among her ranks. Kakashi hoped she would find something soon, the pain was getting annoying.

The silver haired man walked swiftly down the hall towards the little room being used as a makeshift hospital for the blonde haired Hokage. It was slightly suspicious to Kakashi that there were no ANBU on duty outside the door. He kept expecting them to make their presence known to him, but no one came out. Kakashi peered around with caution, but the entire room was bathed in darkness and silence. Kakashi could feel his anxiety rise as he walked around the empty room and listened quietly for any sound. Minutes later, a loud bang echoed across Konoha causing the floor underneath him to vibrate the tiniest bit before stilling again.

"That's strange. Hey Shizune? Are you in there with Tsunade-sama?"

Kakashi walked through the door and let it close behind him with a muted thump. His entire body felt like it was on pins and needles as he walked further into the room. He could see the curtains surrounding Tsunade's bed, but from the faint outline he could tell she wasn't alone. Kakashi figured it was just Shizune checking the older woman's vitals. Grinning to himself, Kakashi sneakily tried to walk around the curtains without being seen.

With that grin still plastered to his face, Kakashi snatched back the curtain and froze in shock. For the first time in nearly twenty-five-years, Hatake Kakashi froze in the face of an adversary. Sitting on top of Tsunade with blood dripping down her lips to dribble across white armor, was one of Tsunade's ANBU captains. The woman snarled as she viciously tried to attack Kakashi. Without the ability to mold Chakra, Kakashi had to get creative. He managed to block the ragged nails with a kunai before slitting the woman's throat.

She fell to the ground and twitched for a few seconds before stilling. Kakashi sighed in relief before cool dread settled into his empty stomach, making the gnawing pain all the more prevalent. Slowly, he walked over and closed his eyes in regret as he saw the lifeless and partially eaten body of his Hokage. Kakashi shook his head sadly as he stepped back and pulled the curtains closed around the bed. He bowed his head in reverence and sent a quick prayer up to the gods.

"You know, it's a sign of a bad shinobi to turn your back on the enemy."

Kakashi looked up to see a pale looking Shizune standing beside him. He quickly realized that he couldn't even sense her chakra. "What do you mean?"

Shizune tipped her head back towards the dead ANBU. "She's the last of the team. I walked in on two of them feeding on the other two and could do nothing when they started on Tsunade-sama. I couldn't save her from them."

Kakashi looked around as he ran a hand through his hair. "Shizune, what's going on?"

Shizune shrugged as she buried her face into her hands and screamed out her frustration. "I just don't know Kakashi."

The dead woman lying on the ground twitched before she slowly began to rise off the floor. Kakashi never saw her coming.

* * *

"Hiashi-sama! What's going on?"

"Father? Are you okay?"

"Uncle?"

"Hiashi-sama?"

Hiashi, in an uncharacteristic show of emotions, buried his face into his hands as he tried to wake himself up from the nightmare he was sure he was having. Slowly, he lifted his eyes and wanted to scream in frustration at the image in the bathroom mirror. Instead of milky white eyes, soft _brown _ones stared back at him.

His Byakugan eyes were gone.

It wasn't until a few moments later when he opened the bathroom door to stare into multiple pairs of _brown _eyes that he realized something was seriously wrong.

* * *

*insert creepy music* Yep, I'm pretty sure something big is happening. Can't wait to see what it is!

Until Next time,

'Rayne


End file.
